Mattress



(No Model.) ZSheets-Sheetl.

B. P. FARRAR.

MATTRESS.

No. 366,312. Patented July 12, 1887.

(No Model.)

2 Um. A .R R n F MATTRESS.

No. 366,312. Patented July 12, 1887.

UEH

UNITED STATES PATENT (Janice.

BENJAMIN F. FARRAR, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

MATTRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,312, dated July 12, 1887.

Application liled May 15, 1886. Serial No. 202,338. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. FARRAR, of the city and county of San Francisco, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Mattresses; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of mattresses made of spring-wire, the most common of which is known as wovenwire fabric, and my invention consists in the arrangement of the mattress in such a manner that the entire spring shall be transversely of the bedframe, its side edges throughout their entire length being rigidly secured to the side strips of the frame, while its endsare loose.

My invention further consists in the means for tightening the mattress by adjusting the width of the bed-frame to which it is attached.

The object of my invention is to make the woven-wire mattress more comfortable to lie upon than heretofore.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my inven tion, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my mattress and frame. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail of one end. Fig. 3 is an end view of the mattress conforming to the curve of the body lying upon it.

A is the mattress-frame.

Bis the mattress, here shown as a woven wire fabric made up of spring-wire bent spirally and interwoven.

It has been the custom heretofore to place the fabric in such a way that the spiral shall extend in the direction of the length of the bed, and consequently the entire spring of the fabric is longitudinal, and it has no spring transversely whatever. When in this position, it is usual to attach the mattress by its ends, leaving the sides unattached to the frame.

It will be observed that I have reversed this arrangement of the mattress, and instead of having the spiral of the wire running longitudinally-that is to say, in the direction of the length of the bed-I have it running transverselythat isto say, from side to side. Again, instead of attaching the fabric by the ends only, I attach it at the sides only, leaving the ends entirely free. This attachment eX- tends throughout the length of the sides of the fabric and should be a perfectly rigid one, bein g effected by any suitable means, as by tacking it solidly to the strips of the mattress frame.

The object I have in View in reversing the mattress, as I have described, is to make it conform itself perfectly to the contour of the body lying upon it.

WVhen the spring of the mattress is in the direction of its length, as it has heretofore been arranged, it does not conform itself to the contour of the body, which sinks into it, making a single depression, deepest at the point of greatest weight, and thence extending in all directions in a perfectly straight plane. This makes the mattress exceedingly uncomfortable, because there is no support for the various minor curves of the body; but when the mattress is arranged transversely it conforms to every curve of the body resting upon it, and gives a support at every point, as I have en deavored to show in Fig. 3. As a means for tightening the mattress, I have the following: The bed-frame A is made in two independent sections, each consisting of one side piece and two end pieces. The two end pieces a of one section are slotted or grooved out, and the two end pieces a of the other section are formed into tongues a which enter the slots of the other end pieces, thus forming the complete frame. Bolts a are headed in the base of the slots of the end pieces a and enter the ends of thetongue-pieces a of the other section. They carry nuts at, which bear against said tongue. By setting up these nuts the two sections of the frame may be separated, thus increasing the width of the frame and tightening the mattress.

I am aware that a mattress has been illustrated in which the spiral of the wire is shown transversely of the bed; but in this mattress the ends are secured as in the ordinary cases,

while the sides have no rigid connection with the mattressframe. WVith such a construction as this the object accomplished by my arrangement is not attained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A mattress consisting of a w0ven-wire fab- In witness whereof I have hereunto set my rie having its spiralor spring and tension hand.

transversely of the mattress-frame-thatis t0 say, from side to side-said mattress being se- 5 cured throughout theentire length of its sides rigidly to the sides of the frame and having its ends free, substantially as herein described.

BENJAMIN F. FARRAR.

W'itnesses:

O. D. COLE, J. 'H. BLOOD. 

